Havelock High students evacuated, being dismissed

Tuesday

Havelock police are investigating a bomb threat that prompted early dismissal for students at Havelock High on Tuesday.

Havelock police are investigating a bomb threat that prompted early dismissal for students at Havelock High on Tuesday.

Havelock Police Chief G. Wayne Cyrus said investigators had a couple of leads in the case. He said Tuesday afternoon that he would not release the 9-1-1 call of the bomb threat, citing the ongoing investigation.

Students were beginning to arrive for school after a two-hour weather delay around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when the Havelock Fire Department responded to the school for a smell of smoke inside the building. Jennifer Wagner, spokeswoman for Craven County Schools, said the investigation pointed to the heating system, which was fixed, and that the fire department determined there was no fire hazard.

Students were heading to classes when the bomb threat was called in, Wagner said.

During the fire investigation, students were put inside the school’s Performing Arts Center and gymnasium. However, when the bomb threat was made, students were completely evacuated to the football stadium. Because of cold temperatures, they were quickly ushered to the gymnasium at Havelock Middle School to keep warm, Wagner said. Students and staff walked about a half-mile in the 22-degree weather from the high school to the middle school as part of the evacuation.

The Havelock police and fire departments as well as explosive ordnance personnel from Cherry Point responded to the high school for a detailed search of the building. No bomb was found, and the building was cleared for occupancy shortly after 3 p.m.

Many students who had left belongings in the school during the evacuation were then allowed to retrieve their items.

Wagner said she believed that the students would have to make up the school day at a later date.

Because of the bomb threat, the school was forced to cancel its home wrestling match and away basketball game scheduled for Tuesday night.